A Fox's Tail
by Kadabi
Summary: She was going to die, too, and it terrified her. There had been many times she thought she was going to die in this land, and none of them had been so all encompassing as this moment. There was no highlight reel playing as she heard the crunch of grass under Naraku's feet, she could feel the smile on his lips as he bent down beside her, and she screwed her eyes shut.
1. Chapter 1

Pairing: Kagome/Yoko?

Rating: T as of now, probably moved to R laterrrr.

A/N: This will eventually be a crossover fic for Inuyasha/Yu Yu Hakusho. I don't have a beta, so if you see any huuuuuge grammatical errors that are just killing you PM me and I'll fix it ;)

A Fox's Tail

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, dirt scrapped against her cheek as she pressed her face into the sand, she felt the slow trickle of blood down her temple and in one terrifying moment of clarity she knew they had lost.

They had lost long before she had climbed out of the bone eater's well that day.

She could hear the sounds of battle rage in the background, the noise from Miroku's wind tunnel had long ago ceased and she didn't dare raise her head to see what she already knew. Sango had shoved her into the sand pit and with her finger pressed against her lips ran back into the fray.

She hoped Shippo had managed to get away.

Inuyasha was nowhere to be found, although she couldn't fault him for this. None of them had expected today to be The Final Battle.

Although she had always known she was only really good for sensing the Shikon shards, she had thought her abilities had improved by leaps and bounds over the years and that she would make some sort of dent when the time came. Her priestess training had allowed her to become more active in their everyday battles, and the confidence she had gained from relying less on Inuyasha, and more upon herself, was made all the more bitter by this reality.

A sob racked her body, and she dug her hands into the sand. Her nails were broken and bloodied, the dirt and grime stinging the exposed flesh. Naraku had swatted her away like a fly, Miroku's wind tunnel only good at keeping the hordes of demons away from her and Sango, and Sango's boomerang swatting away those who managed to avoid the vicious winds. She had stashed Shippo away in the niche of a tree, no matter how long they had been at this; battle was no place for a child.

They hadn't even touched him. All these years gathering the shards, screwing up her schooling, her life. It was all going to be for nothing, because Naraku had the shards, Miroku was dead, and Sango was dying. And Inuyasha? Her protector? Her whole _world _in this foreign land was nowhere to be found.

Well, that's not _entirely_ true, she knew where he was, and she couldn't help but savor the bitterness in her heart for a minute. At him, and his brother. This was partly Sesshomaru's fault too, no matter how hard the Lord of the West tried to pass it off.

She was going to die, too, and it terrified her. There had been many times she thought she was going to die in this land, and none of them had been so all encompassing as this moment. There was no highlight reel playing as she heard the crunch of grass under Naraku's feet, she could feel the smile on his lips as he bent down beside her, and she screwed her eyes shut.

His fingers trailed the hem of her shirt, lifting the thin fabric, letting his clawed fingers slice open her side like a knife through butter. She stifled a whimper of fear, the slickness of his fingers made her stomach turn. She could feel blood run down the front of her stomach, and tears pricked the corner of her eyes, she had failed.

But, if her death was inevitable then the least she could do was die with some semblance of respect. Sango. Miroku. They had faced their deaths with dignity, and she should do the same. Her fingers tightened with the sand, and she flipped to her side, a wave of sand and stone spraying into the air.

Naraku grabbed her tiny wrist in the same instance, tightening of muscles and accelerated heart rate giving her away. A scream of frustration stuck in her throat, and she raised her eyes to meet his garnet gaze. Blood coated his chin, dripped down his throat; with flecks of blood lingering on his lips he seemed to be wearing a crimson lipstick. Tears gathered in her eyes once more, if she looked hard enough she could see bits of flesh and gristle stuck in the dried blood.

She was really the only one left.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end; she wanted to scream at the heavens, they were the _heroes._ Heroes didn't die. They were supposed to vanquish evil, fall in love and live happily ever after! Since when did fairy tales lie?

Naraku wiped a bloodied claw down her cheek, following the trail of her tears. He could smell her despair, feel the breaking of her heart, and for once he wanted to shout, _I win! How dare you defy me!? _She had been the bane of his existence for so long, so much like her incarnate, that he needed to just relish the moment.

With Sesshomaru busy defending the Western lands from the horde he had sent that way, and Inuyasha…a smile curved his lips and he could almost feel the human flinch away from him, he had all but secured his victory. He just needed to tie up the loose end, with the human girl out of the way – he would dispose of her as he had Kikyo – no one would be left to sense the shards and Sesshomaru would fall shortly after.

He slid his hand into her hand, and marveled at the silky tresses that slipped so easily through his fingers. More than once he had wondered what world she came from, with his free hand he cupped her cheek cradling her face, almost lovingly, as he forced her face to his. He could feel the slight tremors that wracked her body, but in her eyes there burned a fire that he was dying to put out.

Their faces were so close their noses touched, and Naraku drug his tongue along the tear marks on her cheeks, groaning at the sound of her strangled cry, "I have a surprise for you."

The words were soft, as though he were speaking to a lover, and her hands that had found their way to his chest balled into fists, twisting the fabric of his robes between her fingers she tried to jerk away. She could smell the blood on her face, the death on his breath and she just couldn't do it anymore.

Briefly she wondered if one could die of fright, if her heart would just burst right in her chest because she knew in her heart what his surprise was. She would much prefer that, but Naraku twisted the hand that was in her hair, and he drug her to her feet. She bit back the cry as she felt her hair tear, and stumbled away from him.

The laugh that escaped him was like a knife in her back, and she realized that this was all just a game. He had this planned out for months, every detail. That's why Sesshomaru didn't show, that's why Inuyasha wasn't there at the well to greet her, and the reason why she walked into Sango and Miroku defending themselves rather than attacking them all at once.

It had all been a game to get her to this point. She was the reincarnation of Kikyo, after all, and most of the drive that was Naraku was his hate for her incarnate.

He didn't bother to catch her when she stumbled away from him, and with a quick flex of his hand he sent the hair he was holding flying into the wind. He could smell him now, he was so close. The climax to his little show was near, and he was almost giddy with delight.

"This is reality Kagome, you think just because you are good, and just that the world will be just as good to you? This is no fairy tale, there is no hero, no last minute plan, and there will be no happy ending where you will ride off into the sunset. You cannot expect to get ahead in this world by playing in the world of black and white, and ignore what the shades of grey keep covered."

She was resting on her knees in the grass when the wind picked up, wrapping her mauled hair around her face. He was here. She felt him before she saw him, and she couldn't help but wonder how long he had been hiding in the forest. Had he watched their friends die? Had he witnessed Sango's last breath? She couldn't bring herself to raise her eyes, to look at the Inuyasha that wasn't really Inuyasha.

She had always thought he would betray them for Kikyo, and she knew he thought he would too. When Kikyo was killed, again, she thought they were safe and that they would be able to get on with their quest without any more interruptions. Inuyasha was Inuyasha though, and he was eaten from the inside out with what happened to Kikyo this time, and Sesshomaru was the unwitting participant in Naraku's web of deceit to get him to this point.

She could hear him breathe, or pant was more like it now. He stood before her, and she stared so hard at his feet she thought he might kick her in the face. She could tell tetsusaiga was gone, what use would he have for it anyway? He couldn't wield the sword anymore.

"Look at him, Kagome."

She screwed her eyes shut, and shook her head so violently that she felt the gash on her temple tear open.

"He came all this way, for you, look at him."

Naraku's voice rose in tempo, and she knew that she would have to look at him. But, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction; he would have to work for it.

Once more, he tangled his hand in her hair and jerked her head up with so much force she thought she felt her brain bounce in her skull. She was sure he had broken some ribs when he sent her flying at the beginning of the battle, and she knew about the gash in her head and concussion when she hit the tree, but none of that hurt so much as it did to look upon her Inuyasha.

He, too, was covered in blood. The blood of the wolves, she was almost positive because Koga hadn't shown to the battle either. His once white hair was crimson and dripping, the top of his haori was gone, and a gash ran from his belly button curving around to the small of his back, blood seemed to pour like a waterfall but if it hurt he didn't show it.

With a jerk of his wrist, Kagome was on her feet, just in time for Inuyasha's clawed hand to connect with her sternum. She had never felt pain so great that it didn't hurt, in hindsight she knew it didn't make sense but in that moment of connection it hurt so much that everything else ceased.

She felt her skin tear, her sternum shatter, felt his clawed fingertips touch her heart and surest of all she felt it all come to a grinding halt.

There was no highlight reel for her, she didn't see the faces of her family, or have time to think about her regrets and what she wished she had done, the edges of her vision pricked with light and a fuzzy blackness that you only see at the end of those silent movie.

She blinked once, felt her heart slow, felt the blood stutter in her veins, and Inuyasha's face loomed in her sight, head tilted, ears down like a beaten dog but on the edges of his lips she could see a smile forming, and felt her own twitch in response.

This was their curtain call. Naraku had won. He had all the shards, he had Inuyasha.

She felt her heart stutter in her chest, felt the blood pooling beneath her in the damnable sand pit, and a memory flickered as her body started to shut down, and synapses began to misfire.

He had all the shards _but one._

It wasn't over yet.

The darkness swallowed her.


	2. Chapter 2

Before the sound of a battle begins, the forest has this way of going silent with anticipation. The birds stop chirping, the squirrels find shelter in the trees and Youko finds himself running towards the silence. There was an underlying hum of power, one he knew all too well, the Shikon's sirens song calling out to any demon or human close enough to listen. He would've had to of been an idiot to ignore it, this was right up his alley, what was rarer than the Shikon no Tama?

What he hadn't counted on was walking into a full on battlefield, but by the time he had soothed Kuronue's misgivings about walking into "such an obvious trap," he had missed most of the fight anyway. He had made it just in time to be the silent spectator to the human woman's – girl? She wasn't that big – show. He could smell her from here, her white robes were soaked with blood and from what he could decipher it wasn't all hers. Her head was down, her hands limp at her side and while humans were one of his least favorite things he didn't believe in playing with your food.

If you've won, you won. It was all too obvious who the winner was here.

He had heard of Naraku, every demon had by now and while he had managed to stay under Naraku's radar for the majority of the time it was easy to see his reputation was well earned. The demon beside Naraku gave him a little more worry though, Youko had met plenty of demons in his life time and while some of them had a screw loose or two, the one standing beside Naraku had an aura he had never felt before.

Even from his spot across the field he could feel the madness, and he realized with a start that there was no other way to describe it _but_ madness. There was no malice, no underlying emotion behind his expression. He just was. There was no flicker of emotion behind those eyes, no recognition to anything that was going on outside of who stood before him.

Naraku was famous for his promise of Shikon shards to demons that swore allegiance to him, or those offered to track down the half demon that fought against him. He was almost as famous for his killing of those same demons to take the shards back; both Youko and Kuronue had been approached by Naraku's lessers with an offer of a shard if they would go after the half demon.

It didn't take much thought from there to realize the demon standing opposite the human woman was the half demon Naraku had tried so hard to destroy. Was the Shikon able to change the blood that flowed through their veins? Had it really made him a full demon? There was no trace of human in that thing anymore, and while it seemed to have worked there were some pretty serious holes in its design.

The Shikon was just that much more valuable now. He had to have it.

He felt a momentary stab of pity for the woman when he saw the hand tangle in her hair, and the one stab through her chest. However, now was not the time for pity and he crouched down into the brush to wait his turn.

The stench of death was almost overpowering on the field, the sun was high in the sky by the time Naraku had left and the vultures were blotting out the sun in anticipation of the ensuing meal. Demon parts littered the field, and the squelch of flesh and blood between his toes made his lip curl. Flecks of blood stained his pristine clothing, the very Earth herself seemed to be stained red, with every footstep blood seeped up from the ground.

Carefully, he placed a hand over his nose and picked his way through the field. There was a gaping crater off to his left, and if he looked close enough he could see bits of demon flesh and a pool of crimson in the middle.

To his right, there was a little more gore. Demon slayers were rampant in this land, and he could easily see recognize the outfit no matter how torn it was. Naraku must have used her weapon against her, the immense bone boomerang a few feet behind her broken body. The boomerang had torn through her stomach, having caught her on her right side leaving her unbalanced and falling to her death. Her intestines were leaking out her side, blood so dark it looked black having long ceased flowing now pooled beneath her and stained the ground.

Her eyes stared unseeing into the sky, and while pity for slayers wasn't his strong suit there was an air of sadness over the battlefield that even he couldn't deny. He didn't believe in the silly Gods humans worshipped, he didn't think anything happened to you after you died except your flesh rotted beneath the ground and you fed the insects but he knelt beside her anyway, and closed her eyes.

He may not have been able to get ahold of the Shikon today, but he couldn't leave their bodies to the vultures after having witnessed Naraku's power display. He had a part in this too, no matter how small, and what little chivalry he had left he intended to use today.

The demon slayer didn't take long to bury, the battle had uprooted enough trees that all he had to do was place her body in one of the holes, and push the dirt back where it belonged. He had found a set of rosary beads by the crater, and remembered that they were part of the humans idol worship, and placed them upon the marker he set for the woman's grave.

The girl child was a little different. When he came upon her, he had thought she would be long dead. The dog demon had very obviously reached her heart, and he had felt her life snuffed out but there was a very soft pink glow surrounding her when he knelt beside her. There was no heartbeat, but her skin was still warm and held the flush to her skin that life provides. Blood had ceased to pump out her wounds, but when he lifted her shirt to inspect the cuts they were in the process of healing, they actually looked weeks old, the flesh seemed to be pulling back together as he watched. There was some faint scarring where superficial wounds had been dealt, and the larger wound on her chest was scabbing.

He had gone into this intending to bury them, and be done with this little drama fest. Youko was no hero, he was no one's savior and he liked it that way. He had killed more humans than he could count – women, men, and children. He did not discriminate against those who stood in his way. It wasn't in his nature to be kind, and nurturing and he could honestly say he had never buried a body in his life before today.

This threw him for a loop he wasn't prepared for, and left him with a responsibility he could live without. The rational side of him gave him a way out of this; she was prone out here in this field and as good as dead anyway. Why should he drag her with him? He wouldn't do anything different to her than some random demon who happened upon her would, and he couldn't drop her off in some human village because their superstitious nonsense would have her killed for being dropped off by a demon.

His lip curled in disgust. Maybe he was just getting old.

A/N: Third chapter is already written up, pleeeeeease remember to review and give me an idea what you liked, didn't like, would like to see, etc.! I had a lot of people favorite the story and put it on their alerts, but without feedback it makes it hard to judge if people enjoyed it, or for me to improve the story and my writing skills. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This was originally the start to another story I was going to write, and never got off the ground except for this chapter. And since it fits so nicely into this story, I couldn't let it go to waste, just had to tweak and delete and re-write and voila!

At the time of her death there were no great revelations, there wasn't a tunnel with a bright light, or a warm voice welcoming her home. There was only unfathomable darkness, and she found that if stared into it for too long it made stomach roll and head throb.

A bone chilling cold began to settle into her very core, and she shivered as she wrapped her arms around her middle. The water lapped gently at her knees, edging her ever closer to the darkness before her. It was warm, too warm for this water, and her eyelids drooped as she stumbled forward slightly.

Her life cycle was coming to an end. She could feel the tackiness of the blood that had seeped from her throat and head onto the front of her shirt, and she tried to pull the material away from her. Despite the warmth of the water, the dried blood was freezing cold. The blood had begun to freeze and it made her skin crawl to feel the contrast. It hurt to breathe, and with each intake of breath she could feel her already shredded skin split further.

She wasn't afraid of Death anymore. She had witnessed enough of it to know it wasn't Death that hurt. It was the dying that got you. She couldn't remember what it had felt like to die, she couldn't remember a lot now that she tried to think about it. It felt like her thoughts were stuck, and she couldn't look forward or back. She could only experience the now.

She couldn't even remember _how_ she had died.

With her death came her freedom. She was freed from the responsibilities that had been thrust upon her, free from the carnage Naraku wrought, free from loving Inuyasha. She stumbled with her thoughts and the current picked up, dragging her forward now.

She shivered violently, and her bones ached with the cold. Frost had formed on her damp hair, and she locked her knees trying to hold her ground. Whatever it was that was ahead of her, she wasn't ready for it yet. It didn't feel right.

They were with her. She was supposed to wait for them.

Miroku. Sango. Shippo.

They were with her. Beside her. They held her up, held her firm against Death's unrelenting current.

A sob caught in her throat as she stared at Sango's haunting beauty. A smile curved Sango's lips, and she reached out a slender hand to tuck a frost covered piece of hair behind Kagome's ear. Her hand slipped from Kagome's hair and she backed away from her, eyes shining with tears unshed.

Miroku's cursed hand paused slightly against her mud streaked cheek, and his eyes held leagues of sadness that caused her own to spill over. The rosary was gone, and in Death Miroku had been freed from the terror that the Kazaana had caused him. Briefly she wondered if it was the Kazaana that had killed Miroku, or if it was something else.

She desperately wished it had been something else.

She held her arms out in front of her and Shippo bound into them with barely contained joy. It felt so good to have him in her arms that tears spilled down her cheeks and she could do nothing but crush him to her cheek and shower him with kisses. His tiny hands held her head firm and he kissed the tip of her nose before he squirmed free and leapt onto Kilala's back.

She reached out her own hand towards their retreating figures, fingers curling around nothing but air as the three before her pulled away. Her fingertips barely brushed against their clothes and her heart ached as she watched their lips form the words they would never say.

She took a step forward, and the current surged around her, pulling her under and she saw the panic in their eyes, the fear as all three started forward as if to yank her free from the waves.

She wanted to tell them not to worry, that she would be okay.

It didn't hurt anymore.

Spluttering and coughing Kagome was thrown from underneath the waves. She had a brief memory of when she was a child, visiting the ocean for the first time. The undercurrent had caught her then too, and had tossed her around like a ragdoll. She didn't quite understand death at the age of six, but she could understand it now and it felt the exact same. Her teeth chattered, and she bit her tongue as she hit the ground with a body jarring thud. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, spilling down her chin to stain her already torn and muddy sweater.

She was on land now, some sort of grassy inlet, and she reveled in the feel of the grass against her palms. She flexed her fingers against the feel, and revealed in the fact it was solid, it didn't give way. She wasn't alone though, she could feel the presence of life that isn't quite life somewhere in front of her and she hesitantly raised her eyes, peeking through her bangs. The presence was undeniably powerful, and something she had never felt before. It wasn't demon, or human.

Kagome's eyes widened as she sucked in a ragged breath. If she had been honest, she was expecting a humanoid being. Some Godlike being, or even an angel, would've been better than what stood before her now.

She wasn't expecting a jackal headed being, with skin as black as rotting flesh that seemed to drip off and sizzle away in the grass. The area around his feet was blackened and grey, the grass became what looked like ash and crumbled away with the softest touch. She knew who he was of course, she wasn't that ignorant. He protected the Dead and brought them to the Afterlife safely. She dropped her eyes as quickly as she raised them, as her body began to tremble.

She felt the whisper of a touch on the underside of her chin and she flinched, raising a chuckle that sounded like the baying of a thousand hounds. It made her ears throb, and she fell on her elbows to cover her ears against the sound.

A smile curved his canine muzzle, and when he spoke the tiny area came alive with the roar of hounds, "Raise your eyes."

Teeth chattering she did as she was told, fingers digging deep into the rich soil of the inlet. The frost had melted, and her body dripped water everywhere but the cold had not subsided. His eyes were as black as the ocean night, and she could not look away. There seemed to be flames licking at the back of his eyes, and she could hear the cries of the dead, feel their rotting flesh clawing at her life force begging her to come back into the water.

It made her back bow with the weight of the spiritual energy.

"Do you know where you are?"

Kagome shook her head slowly, she thought when people died there was a tunnel with a white light, "N-Not…exactly," she licked her lips, "But…I know I'm dead."

He – It? – smiled, "Not exactly dead, it's not quite your time yet little one, you are still needed," he blinked releasing Kagome from his gaze, "There is no reason to be afraid, to fear me. My appearance is based upon that of the one I stand before, I have no physical form but this tends to be more comfortable than speaking with air. I'm gathering in some way the Egyptians must be influencing your thoughts based upon the appearance of this place."

He turned his back on her, arms folded at the small of his back, flail horizontal to her, "I have a…proposition for you. That is, if you are willing to hear me out."

It was a rhetorical question, and she kept silent like she knew he expected of her.

She didn't have to be facing him to see that he was grinning, "I am able to restore you to life, soul intact," he raised his hand for silence as Kagome opened her mouth, "You will not be like Kikyo, Kagome. I am not a witch; you will be whole if you choose to return."

"But…?"

"There is no starting over Kagome. I cannot bring Miroku or Sango back, their lives have ended and they have chosen to follow the current. You will awaken in the same state that you were left in, your body is well taken care of at the moment, and in turn you will continue your journey to gather the shards. As you are aware, Naraku is missing a shard. The shard you have in the desk drawer at your mother's house. Do you think he will stop now? He will bide his time and wait, and when the time is right he will take the shard from your mother's house."

He might as well have stabbed her, her heart did this funny twist and pang and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

A sad smile twisted his canine lips, and he put his blackened paw underneath her chin tilting her head up, "I cannot tell you who you will meet this time, Kagome. You will have to decide for yourself this is a risk worth taking. While your life won't start over, your journey will."

Kagome licked her lips again, and ran a hand through her hair nervously as she struggled to compose herself, "What will happen if I say no?"

His paw slipped away from her face, stepping away from her he turned back to the cherry blossom tree, "The world will go on. Life waits for no one. Even now time passes, and Naraku moves forward with his plans. No one can say with certainty what will happen if you say no, other than that you will remain here. This is not heaven, nor is it hell. You will not move on."

She bit down on her lip to hold in the laugh that was bubbling up her slashed throat. Everyone's fate rested on her shoulders again, even if Death she could not get away from this. If she said no she would be condemning herself to a life of wandering in between forever, of never returning or moving on.

It didn't seem like she was given much of a choice.

This had never been her life to live.

What choice did she have?

A/N: as always, please review and lemme know your thoughts! :] Because I'm on break until Fall semester, I'm going to try and update with a new chapter every day or every other day at the latest to try. Next chapter things finalllllly start moving forward!


	4. Chapter 4

She hurt everywhere, and she hurt a lot.

From the background noise she knew she wasn't in the field anymore, she couldn't feel the sun and she couldn't smell the grass. The air was dense, and a damp smell hung in the air. Kagome could hear muffled voices, and she didn't dare open her eyes.

Had Naraku taken her with him? The deity said she would be returned to the same place where she had been struck down.

With every heartbeat there was a steady throb in her veins, and her skin felt like it was crawling with a thousand insects. It took every ounce of her strength not to dig herself raw, for all she knew her survival depended upon playing opossum.

" – Miko powers, she wouldn't be –"

" – think I _know _that – "

The voices definitely weren't ones she recognized, they were masculine and hushed. One didn't sound too happy, and it wasn't hard to guess it was because of what she was.

_Which means they must be demons._

Even if it wasn't Naraku, the fact she was with unfamiliar demons meant she was in a whole new world of danger. Demons didn't just pick up priestesses out of the kindness of their heart.

Kuronue was obviously angry with him, as much as Youko knew he had right to be. In fact, on the way here he wondered if he had completely lost his mind. When he realized the girl was miko, he had known that it would start a blow-out. It wasn't like him to get involved in matters that wouldn't provide him with compensation at the end. If she got herself nearly killed then she wasn't going to be any use in battle, she would be more of a hindrance, and as he mentioned before: Youko was no one's savior.

"You're an idiot. She's going to heal up and purify us. That's all there is to it. What makes you think a priestess would spare demons? Especially demons like _us. _We don't exactly have the best track record with the humans in this area."

"I _know. _Damnit, Kuronue, don't you think I know that? I couldn't just leave her there, though. If you had watched her die – or look like she had – then you would understand."

He was bull shitting, and from the look on Kuronue's face knew it. Truth be told, Youko wasn't sure why he had picked her up and it wasn't like his life would change dramatically if she stopped breathing right then. If it hadn't been for the pink glow he would've thought she had died, she had no heart beat and no blood flow. From what Kuronue told him, the only reason she had survived was because she was a miko. He wasn't sure if the bat was telling the truth, or making things up again but he could see the glow gain in strength and smell her body healing so he couldn't argue against him.

"Look, if she was traveling with that half breed and his brother then why would she purify us? She's alive because of us, and she knows better than anyone else how the shards work. Can you imagine getting our hands on the Shikon no Tama? That would blow away all the other treasures."

"And you think she will do this willing? Why should she trust us? That half breed just stuck his hand through her chest. This is putting a target on our backs. You have heard the same stories about Naraku that I have, and we have managed to avoid him and his ire these last five years. So why should we all of a sudden crawl into the thick of things? I don't know about you Youko, but I'm not too quick on sticking my neck out for some human. Dump her back where you found her, and we can begin on another lead I have."

It was hard for her to compose her thoughts. She felt like she was under water, the voices were muffled and quiet and she was having a hard time telling if it was deliberate or if they had shoved cotton in her ears. She didn't recognize the demon auras at all, which frightened her. If she had recognized some piece of it, it would make more sense as to why she was saved. Or, hoped she was saved.

_How ironic would that be, survive the final battle, be brought back to life, only to be killed again by a random demon,_

She felt one of the aura's dissipate, and strong arms encircle beneath her legs and slip under her shoulders. Her head lolled back, and she realized she probably wouldn't have been able to open her eyes even if she had wanted to. The damage to her body had been too great, and the exertion of her miko powers to salvage her body was throwing her into a comatose state.

Whoever was carrying her had no notion of "gentle" as she was jostled left and right, footsteps echoing against what she could guess were the walls of a cave. It seemed like ages later when she felt the demon stop, and something warm and fluffy cocoon her body, if she listened hard enough she could hear the crackling of a fire and each inhale from the demon beside her.

The sound of logs crackling lulled her into a restless sleep, her mind finally following her body and shutting down.

She wasn't sure how long she slept, but when she awoke the air was stale and cold. The fire had long since died, and she couldn't feel any aura aside from her own. She took the chance and cracked open an eye, and was met with suffocating darkness.

_Well, damn. _Pushing herself up on an elbow, her body screamed at the motion and her vision swam. She knew she should take this as a good sign, if they were willing to leave her by herself then they couldn't have been holding her prisoner. Or she just wasn't important enough to be considered a threat.

Letting her eyelids slide shut, she inhaled deeply and promptly winced as her sternum popped, _it might be a good idea to take account of my injuries while I'm alone, _if it came down to it and she was attacked she was in no condition to defend herself.

_Not that I was able to defend myself at full health, _a bitter smile twisted her lips. She had never wanted to rely on others to save her, damsel in distress? Her? Never. Or so she had intended, _if I do make it out of this, I have some serious revaluating of life choices to do._

Steading herself she managed to sit upright with minimal popping and cracking, and with each breath she felt like she was swallowing liquid fire. She stretched her arms in front of her, flexing fingers and rubbing her knees, there was an obvious pink puffiness to the cuts and scrapes along her arms and legs which told her that her healing powers were hard at working taking care of every single ding she had.

_So. That's why I am alive. _

If she had just been a regular human, it was all too clear, she would have died on the battle field. While she may not have been physically powerful, she had spent so much of her free time practicing healing techniques, herbs that she could dry and grind into powder, and had even bought a ridiculous amount of meditation DVDs in her world to prepare herself.

"You're awake."

Her heart lodged somewhere in her throat, and an icy chill washed through her veins. As slowly as she could, she tilted her head to the side, just enough so that she could see the demon in her peripheral.

Her eyes widened, the demon looked all too familiar and her heart felt like it had stopped beating. Again. Rationally she knew better, but those white ears made her heart ache something fierce.

She swallowed and turned her gaze back to the darkened fire place. To keep her mouth from trembling, she sucked in her cheeks and bit down. _Demons are like sharks. They can sense fear. Just stare straight ahead. _

As encouraging as her thoughts were, she flinched as she felt the air move when he brushed past her to stoke the fire back to life. The renewed brightness made her eyes throb, and she rubbed at them with the heel of her hand.

He didn't speak again, and she couldn't find her voice. Her throat was bone dry, and her tongue seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth. _He looks so much like him…_

She screwed her eyes shut and pressed her hands against her ears to stave off the sudden rush of images. While she couldn't actively recall the exact moment of her death, or the moments leading up to it, her subconscious held them under lock and key letting them lurk just beneath the surface, teasing and taunting like a wave ready to suck her under.

She could feel his gaze on her, waiting patiently for her episode to pass; swallowing thickly she dropped her hands back to her sides and peered at him through her bangs. Whatever she had expected from this encounter, she wasn't prepared for this. His eyes were like molten gold, an intelligence built upon centuries of survival stared straight back at her.

She had met plenty of demons that skirted her gaze, stealing glances and staring just a hair past her in an attempt to have some sort of communication. There was no trace of that indecisiveness or self-consciousness in this demon. He stared steady and strong into her eyes, searching her face for the exact same thing she was judging him for.

While she could feel the tension at the base of her head, her fingertips tingled with power, and he sat languidly on his haunches sizing her up. Whatever he had been arguing with the other demon over earlier must have been settled, as she could sense no malice in his posture.

_Inuyasha…_

"Yo –"

"Why?"

Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, harsh in the suffocating silence of this cave. Her throat throbbed immediately, the wound on her neck tearing at the corners with the movement of muscle. Hesitantly, she reached for her throat and gingerly probed the jagged line, her fingers came away crimson and she had to stifle a cry of frustration.

There was no point in asking her to elaborate on what she meant; he wasn't going to insult her intelligence like that. The smell of salt water hung in the air, and he wondered if he could get out of there before she broke down in tears.

He tilted his head slightly, _why? _He had asked himself the same question all night, and hadn't really come up with a decent answer. Not that he had to tell her that, she was in no position to question what he told her.

Kuronue had come back with information that was just too delicious to ignore: the girl could sense shards of the Shikon. All the pieces had fallen into place of how she had survived for so long despite the motley crew of beings she had traveled with and why Naraku so desperately needed her to die.

Youko was said to lack a lot of things, but luck was not one of those things.

"Don't speak; you'll only tear your wounds open again. It'll be harder to conceal you with the scent of blood hanging in this small of space. You can sense shards of the Shikon."

He wasn't asking, and the slight jump in her pulse betrayed her fear of what he had said. He can only imagine what demons would be willing to pay to get ahold of something that could bring them to the legendary jewel.

"As of now, I mean you no harm. I do not intend to sell – or trade – you, I have use of your skills myself. If you help me, I will help you. But, make no mistake little one: I am not your half breed. I am no one's guardian. If you fall behind, if you get in my way, or if you try and betray me I will kill you just as quickly and cut my losses. Do you understand?"

He could see the anger burning in her eyes, pink burned at the tips of her fingers and her blue eyes seemed to grow cloudy like the sky is wont to do with an impending storm.

"So I'm a prisoner," she tried to thrust as much disgust into her words as was possible with a whisper. She ignored that she failed miserably.

"Think of yourself as what you will, you want the shards as much as I do. I cannot imagine you are just going to slink away with your tail between your legs after investing this much time into it."

She frowned, "That makes zero sense. You want me to accompany you while you search for the shards for yourself knowing that I need the shards too? What will happen if – when – we get ahold of the shards? Do you think we will just share it?"

His smile made the hair on the back of her neck rise, and her cheeks tingled with a rush of blood. She often forgot not all demons were as helpful as Koga, and in the space of ten minutes she realized she had been thrown into the frying pan.

"And if I refuse?"

The demon's lips curled at the corners, "It is amusing how you go on like you are given a choice in this matter. As I said, your life is of no concern to me. I have expended no materials in removing you from the field. You healed yourself, I merely provided a bed therefore if you were to die I will lose nothing," she watched a pristine white ear swivel to the side, "Come. You are filthy, and your blood has started to cause you to gain a rather pungent perfume. There's a hot spring at the back of the cave that will suffice."

A/N: As always, pleeeeease review and let me know your thoughts, or how your day was! :] Next time: hot springs bring out the philosopher in Kagome and a baby fox comes out of his hidey hole


	5. Chapter 5

Kagome wasn't actually up to walking on her own just yet, and required quite a bit of leaning on Youko to even make it through the cavern. The 'cavern' they occupied was more like a small city in itself, hidden beneath the roar of a waterfall there were tiny rooms carved into the sides of the cave with the jutted outcroppings serving to layer the caverns so that floors were laid atop one another.

From what she could tell there were crude forms of businesses being run, alongside homes that the demons seemed to be actively living in and returning to. She had never seen anything like it; the demons were living in a way eerily similar to humans and it gave her this hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Youko watched her out of the corner of his eye, her mouth hung slightly agape and her eyes never seemed to stop moving. The demons that occupied the cavern were pacifistic, and for obvious reasons there were only very few pockets of them around anymore. They rarely left their caverns, and even more rare to actually let people into their secret world.

The waterfall served as a curtain of protection against any sound or smell that would normally escape if they were living in the side of a mountain or hill. They were living on borrowed time though, demons that couldn't – or didn't – fight never lasted long no matter the precautions.

To say she was awestruck was an understatement, this place was absolutely beautiful. The cavern was illuminated by strings of floating orbs that were all interconnected on outcroppings while a handful bobbed and floated alongside demons that walked the street. Every so often sparks would fly off the orbs, like snowflakes of fire, and she wanted to just stop and enjoy the soft glow.

"They are replaced every night. They're kept aloft by demons powering them throughout the day, when they go down at night so the demons can rest complete darkness engulfs the cave; be careful you aren't caught out here alone."

The hot spring Youko had taken her to bathe at was run much like a shop, an attendant was at the front desk where she smiled at them softly and handed them towels without a word.

"W-Wait. Why do you get a towel?"

"Because I'm going into the hot spring."

"Are there separate springs?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going into the hot spring."

He raised a brow at her, and the arm she had wrapped around her waist, "And how, do tell, do you intend to stop me from dragging you into the water? You are covered in dried blood, and you are starting to smell a little ripe. You _are_ getting into that water one way or the other."

She had never been so humiliated in her life, although a few times could rival this. She couldn't exactly deny that she had started to smell the way she looked, and she was in dire need of something to soothe her screaming muscles. She just didn't want a demon she met half an hour ago to be the one scrubbing her back.

"What are you doing? You are taking too long. You aren't wearing nearly enough clothing to warrant it."

"_E-Excuse _me?! Pardon me for not being on board with this right away!"

"I have no time for your foolish human modesties, throw on your towel if you must and you can wear that in the water; just get out here before I come back in there."

She peeked around the corner, eyes closed, with her hands reaching stretched in front of her to keep from bumping into any naked demons. The whole lack of modesty was a new one to her, it must have been Inuyasha's human side that made him such a prude but if she was being honest with herself she would take his prudishness any day to the demon standing before her in all his glory.

"What are you doing?"

"Protecting my innocence."

She could almost feel his sigh.

"Whatever, give me your hand. Don't look at me like that woman, I'm not going to drown you."

Hesitantly she stuck her hand out, elbow tucked against her side, so that she wasn't reaching too far ahead and too low to grab any dangly bits that happened in her way. _Is this real life right now?_

She started when she felt his warm palm enclose her hand; his hand was so large holding her own that she felt like a child for a minute. He started walking forward and she tripped over her own feet to keep up with him, _Ah! What if I didn't tie my towel tight enough?! _

"Careful, we're at the water already."

The steam seemed to clear her sinuses immediately, and she breathed deeply. There were plenty of hot spring areas in her time, but she hadn't really had the time to stop and enjoy them. Somehow she figured this time wouldn't be any more enjoyable than if she had been in the spring with Sesshomaru.

"There are rocks that serve as steps so that you can step down into the water. I'm on the first one, let me know when you are ready and we can step down together since you don't seem to be opening your eyes."

"Nor do I intend to! Alright…I'm ready."

Goosebumps rose along her arms at the warmth of the water, the water felt heavier than the times she had bathed in streams and rivers and she relished the warmth against her sensitive skin. The rocks were smoothed over and carved into usable steps, and she could feel they were well worn with the use of many feet.

"Are there others?"

"No, the spring is ours for the next hour."

"Well, there is the silver lining."

"Stop being sarcastic and get in the damn water."

She reached out a foot tentatively and felt air, the last step down was further than the rest and she stumbled with the unexpected difference. Water lapped around her chest, she flailed for a moment and felt her face come to rest against what she could only assume was his stomach, _please…oh, please no. _

"I told you I wasn't going to let you drown."

Without meaning to, her eyes had flown open in her dramatic millisecond free fall and she had never been so thankful for murky water. Youko's hands were wrapped around her upper arms to keep her face from sinking into the water, and he held almost all of her weight out of the water.

"Are you done?"

"Quite."

Jerking her arms out of his grasp, albeit a weak yank, she brushed away the imaginary dust on her towel and turned on her heel to wade to the other side of the spring. The steam left a dense fog hanging in the air, and Youko became a hazy figure in the distance.

She could see his ears twitch – did they? – in irritation as he sat down on the steps. _No wonder he has no reason to be modest, with abs like that! _

_No. No, no no no._

Back peddling a bit, she pinched her cheek harshly; she had something more serious to worry about other than Youko's body issues.

_How the hell am I going to get out of here? Realistically, I cannot go after Naraku alone and I do not have the time to try and find demons that will tolerate humans enough to help out. I don't know if Sesshomaru is alive. Koga probably __**isn't**__ alive. Those are about the only two who would even be willing to come close to Naraku, and even if I do follow Youko how would I get him to the Western Lands to check on Sesshomaru? Naraku has 99.9% of the jewel already, I'm the only thing standing in his way. Once he finds out that I'm alive, he will come looking for me regardless of what I'm doing or who I am with. So to what end would Youko want the jewel? It didn't seem like he cared too much – or knew at all – about the wish. _

Kagome swallowed thickly. There hadn't been a proper time to grieve Sango and Miroku, and she spent most of the time she had ben awake actively dragging her mind away from her friends. Blinking rapidly she wiped at her eyes; it all seemed like a dream. Not the Youko part, because she could see him out of the corner of her eye scrubbing at his ears, but the fact she would never see Sango and Miroku again seemed too much to deal with right now.

_In reality, there may never be a time to grieve. Whenever have we really had the opportunity before? Bury the corpses, burn them, just get rid of them as soon as we can and pack our things up and move on. Don't think about it. Don't talk about it. _

Sighing softly, she slid down into the water and watched her hair try and float away from her in the spring.

_If I do follow Youko, because I need the strength he has to offer, I will need a backup plan. I have to betray him, before he can betray me. He wants the jewel. I __**need**__ it. There is no denying that he is much more powerful than Inuyasha was, and he may even rival Sesshomaru. I would be a fool to deny that. But…would I be a bigger fool to ally myself with him? _

Inuyasha.

_Why does that make my heart hurt so much?_

She touched the scar on her chest, the skin was puffy and raised. She still couldn't remember much of what happened on the battlefield. Naraku had grabbed her hair, drug her to her feet and then…what?

What had happened?

And where was Inuyasha?

He could smell her, the scent was faint but she had lost so much blood that it hung in the air for the last two days. He may have been a child, and he may only be good for illusions, but even Shippo had the nose of a demon and tracking was one thing that all demons were good at.

He hadn't been close enough to witness what had taken place on the battlefield, because Kagome had shoved him in the roots of a tree, but he had been close enough to hear and draw his own conclusions. He had made it to the battlefield only to see Kagome crumpled in the middle.

So he waited. And waited.

When the silver kitsune had shown up, he had almost lost all hope but there was no malice in his intent, no deceit in his aura. So he had waited some more.

Shippo was a good tracker, but awful at hiding. Youko had found him when passed by the tree, and hadn't been too offended when Shippo had attacked him with his firecrackers. He figured the silver kitsune was going to kill Kagome anyway, and he was going to go down with her.

Except, Youko had stepped on his tail and asked what the hell he thought he was doing.

And that's how Shippo found himself in the waterfall haven, listening to the only survivor of his family throw a fit about having to share the springs with Youko. 

A/N: Made a mistake and bought Tales of Xillia. It's been consuming my life, as always pleeeeease review and let me know what you thought or how your day was! :]


End file.
